Big Beacon Mount Wire Trail

Big Beacon Mount Wire Trail is a 4.7 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Salt Lake City, Utah that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until November. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

DISTANCE

4.7 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

2,089 feet

ROUTE TYPE

Loop

dogs on leash

birding

cross country skiing

hiking

nature trips

snowshoeing

trail running

walking

forest

views

wild flowers

Mt. Wire (commonly referred to as Big Beacon by locals) is one of the prominent foothill peaks due east of downtown Salt Lake City. The peak is easily recognized by the two large reflector panels just south of the summit, used for transmitting telephone signals between Salt Lake and Park City. Atop Mt. Wire is an old airway beacon, which you can climb should you desire an extra 25 feet of elevation.
While Mt. Wire is a relatively low elevation peak, it is an outstanding spring hike of over 2,000 vertical feet with incredible views in every direction, rampant wildflowers, and wildlife that includes the occasional rattlesnake or mountain lion. In most years the peak can be hiked free of snow in April, and is an excellent tune up for the bigger mountains.

Great short but steep hike! Perhaps not the most scenic by comparison to its southerly bigger siblings, however Mt. Wire is an awesome experience unto its own. Great views of northern Salt Lake. Be sure to climb the ladder at the top for even better views!

This is a very pretty, accessible, and relatively easy hike that provides great views of emigration and red butte canyon, as well as stunning views of downtown salt lake. It is basically the hike to the living room plus a mile or two, but the views and flowers only get better once you pass it. There is also the option of climbing the tower at the top, but make sure you are careful climbing the 30 foot exposed ladder.

We made this climb today intending on going to the Living Room. OOoops! My daughters (ages 10, 13, 15, and 17) all enjoyed the scenic views and wildflowers. Fortunately we had plenty of water and sunscreen to help us with our extra (unplanned) time on the mountain. There is little cover for the majority of the hike, so mornings might be more pleasant. We started our hike at about 11am. It took my crew 3.5 hours from start to finish--we spent some time at the top--so it is a longer hike when traveling with kids. We heard a rattler, so watch your step!

The wildflowers are beautiful this time of year, and everything is green and beautiful. This trail shares the beginning part of the route with The Living Room Trail and a section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, so that part had a lot of traffic.The trail is listed as "lightly trafficked" but there were quite a few people. It may be because it was the first Saturday of the season that was really nice out, but I was hoping for a bit more solitude.There is virtually no shade for much of the trail so make sure you bring water and suncreen.

Overall amazing hike with great views of the valley as well as the Great Salt Lake. Gradual incline all the way to the top makes for a great not over strenuous exercise. Makes for an amazing sunset hike. At the top there is a beacon tower that makes the hike even more enjoyable and rewarding. Bring plenty of water and some trail snacks and this is an amazing hike.

I used to hike this from the prominent south ridge as training for the Grand Teton. I’d hike it everyday, 20 minutes up and a little less down. I might add that I was mostly running or moving very fast. It was a great hike. I used to climb the beacon just for the extra 30’ of view. It’s too bad the microwave reflectors aren’t up ther anymore.

Completed this hike on 2/3/18. This is always a great easy-moderate hike with great views of downtown SLC and plenty of wildlife. Lots of wind at the summit, but still worth it.

Eric R.

hiking

8 months ago

I did this Thanksgiving morning. I went up to the Living Room on the much less used trails behind the Museum of Natural History, and then got on the Mount Wire trail that starts at the sharp U-turn in the back of the canyon where the main Living Room trail comes up. Note that it appears that climbing up to up to the Living Room is a very popular thing to do on Thanksgiving, but very few people take the trail to Mount Wire. It's not very interesting at first, as you are just going uphill through the trees, but then you emerge out into open terrain and the views are great. There's a 4 way intersection in the trail where you need to take a sharp right turn to get up to Mount Wire, which involves some significant elevation gain over a short distance. The views are worth it, and it is awesome to think that you can have access to something like this right off the city streets. The tower is surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barb wire, but the gate is open, so you can climb up the ladder if you are so inclined. There are various trails going off in different directions from the tower, so that would be fun to explore sometime. Going down there were hordes of people coming up the Living Room trail, which right now is spectacularly and inconveniently muddy in some places.

Hiked this today. I really enjoyed it! I feel a moderate rating is appropriate. It was an incline the entire way up so no flat areas, but it wasn't as grueling as some other hikes in the area. The last mile or so is steep and I felt myself resting more frequently. The elevation contributed to that as well.
There is a small tower a the summit that's fun/scary to climb. If you climb it though, you get an uninterrupted 360 degree view of the valley. Breathtaking. If you go in the fall you'll be rewarded with some beautiful foliage.

This was one of the most beautiful sunset hikes I've done! It's definitely very steep, and I slipped almost the whole way down but the sunset views were well worth it. It's pretty open for a majority of the hike but it does get pretty narrow/woodsy up one trail to the top. The living room is a great place to watch the sunset if you don't want to go all the way up.

So I reviewed this trail last summer, but it was so HOT and arid. However this morning a few of us got to the trailhead at 4:30am with our dogs ready to go! We got up to the top a few minutes before the sun was going to peek over the mountain, and it was glorious! I HIGHLY recommend this trail for a sunrise hike. I've hiked a really good amount of trails in the wasatch mountains, and I can't think of a better sunrise hike than this. AMAZING! We heard a bunch of coyotes going crazy when we got to the top. Also, don't do it that early alone because it's definitely a place where the mountain lions would love to hang. ;)

A small hiking umbrella would be a nice addition to the kit for this hike. The day I went, the Livingroom Trail section was sidewalk busy. Going higher, the crowds thinned out. Take a minimum of 2 litters of water for a hot day.

Alicia S.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

This hike is best for spring and fall. It get's very hot in the summer. Great views of the valley from the top and fun to climb up the radio tower. Very busy trail for the first 1/3 of the hike but once you pass the Living Room turn off it is pretty quiet.